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Boulder firm's coding apprenticeships aim to close workforce gap

Techtonic Group gets young people from variety of backgrounds into software development

By Gloria Dickie

For the Camera

Posted:
02/12/2015 08:30:38 PM MST

Updated:
02/12/2015 08:33:50 PM MST

Junior developer Tim Cowley works on coding for a client Wednesday at the Techtonic Group on Folsom Street in Boulder. (Jeremy Papasso / Staff Photographer)

At first glance, Techtonic Group looks a bit like a college dorm room.

Stacks of ramen, instant mac and cheese, Kind bars and rice cakes cover the kitchen shelves, nearly toppling over. In the corner, the $20 particleboard Ikea coffee table is conspicuous. And in the main room, hoodie-clad teenagers stare at computer screens with unrivalled intensity. The only thing missing is the hot plate.

But, that's the point, isn't it? Because Techtonic Group isn't your average startup.

Located in Boulder's core, Techtonic Group is a software development company with clients that range from the Denver Center for Performing Arts to Disney to FedEx. But while its clientele may be impressive, it's Techtonic's programmers who truly set the business apart.

In early 2014, CEO Heather Terenzio grew concerned about what she saw as a gap in the workforce. Where were the minorities and the women, she wondered, and the high school dropouts?

So Terenzio set about to establish an apprenticeship program that would allow disadvantaged youths to enter the coding world without hitting the barriers they would encounter at other traditional institutions.

"Most people can't take six months off work or pay $20,000 to do a coding boot camp," Terenzio says. "This offers an alternative."

Looking for attitude, passion

Terenzio began by reaching out to social services agencies and vocational schools to recruit young adults between the ages of 19 and 26 to find potential apprentices who had an interest in learning software development, while also being paid a living wage.

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"We interviewed mostly for attitude, looking for those who were passionate about software development and creating something on the Web. And those who wanted to take their lives in different directions," Terenzio says.

Just over a year later, the program now has seven full-time apprentices, with backgrounds that include King Soopers, Arby's and catering companies.

At a Wednesday morning meeting, five of the apprentices gathered in the board room, getting ready to discuss their latest projects.

Cameron Roman, 19, is one of the program's success stories.

"I grew up playing a lot of video games, and I wanted to get into video game development but I didn't graduate high school — I got my GED," he says. When it came time to apply to colleges that offered development degrees, they either wouldn't accept Roman's certifications or were too expensive.

Roman turned to SeedPaths, a Denver-based, eight-week software programming boot camp that provides full and partial scholarships to cover the $6,000 price tag. Finally, Roman felt he had found his calling.

"I really fell in love with software development, the culture and the people," he says. Shortly after, Roman was introduced to Terenzio at one of the boot camp's career fair days.

Others, like Chase Hansen, 19, and Edgar Cordova, 20, came to Techtonic from the food services industry, after also enrolling in SeedPaths.

"I really got into programming in college, but culinary was my back skill," Cordova says. "I thought culinary was going to be my career, but I don't like the culture."

Growing the program

Sitting alongside Techtonic's senior developers, the seven apprentices have learned new languages of code and how to work with different platforms.

"We have some who pick it up really fast in just a couple of months, and some take a little bit longer," says Terenzio, but so far she's only had one apprentice who didn't feel software development was the right fit.

For Thi Mai, 26, it's the sense of accomplishment from solving a complex problem that keeps her coming back.

Born in Vietnam, Mai moved to Virginia at the age of 16. She earned a degree in information technology from George Mason University but had trouble getting a foot in the door.

"Every place asked for two years of experience, which I didn't have because I was fresh out of college. It was frustrating," she says. Eventually, she met Terenzio.

Mai is quick to show off some of the projects she's worked on, such as Summers Corner, a South Carolina-based real estate company.

"Sometimes you look at something, and you don't know what to do. I'll keep thinking about it when I leave here, and then finally I'll come up with something and I can't wait to get home and try it on my PC," she says. "It's great to learn new things everyday."

Some of the apprentices will stay for only six months, while others are on a year-long track. But that doesn't mean they'll leave. Former apprentices have gone on to mentor and manage the new trainees.

Meanwhile, Terenzio hopes she can grow the program — from a modest seven to upwards of 50, and add in professional development courses, focusing on things like the habits of highly effective teens.

"We need to reach out into different neighborhoods and try different avenues," she says. "There really are a lot of eager, ambitious people out there."

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